Steel and Mana

Chapter 153 – Lone Intruder

"Damned nosy idiots..." Grumbled a tired voice belonging to Rakkuan, mumbling under his nose, walking along a dirt road, wiping off blood from his sword, and leaving two decapitated bodies behind him in a ditch. "I didn't know bastards like these would be guarding the border of the Frontier... Not accepting bribes? What are they, saints? Whatever. When in a lawless place, act like they, huh?" He chuckled, getting his pipe out of his breast pocket, soon puffing big clouds of smoke as he headed onwards, enjoying the warm fall season.

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"You called, Sovereign?" Oleg asked, entering my study and saluting.

"Yes." I said, looking at him seriously, letting him know that I wasn't in the mood to take this lightly. "A letter arrived from Elliot this night; the ink was still fresh. Someone killed two of his patrolling guards, and their bodies were found just before dusk."

"Should I gather the troops?"

"Yes, we need a wide sweep of the Frontier, but let Pion and Polo rest; they just returned from a long trek! Let others take up on this mission now."

"Who are we looking for, My Lord?"

"Good question. My Uncle says that the clues point towards a lone individual who entered our territory. Bandit? Imperial spy? A fugitive from the war? We don't know, but I am ordering you to double the patrols around the borders. Anybody who can't identify himself, bring him in. If they resist, kill them. No exceptions!"

"Yes, My Lord!"

"Go. This issue can't be delayed! Whoever infiltrated our territory can't reach Avalon, understood?"

This time, he didn't answer, simply bowed, hurrying out, leaving me alone with my thoughts while I leaned back in my chair. It was finally happening. So far, our region was isolated, put out of the minds of others, but it seems someone did think of coming here at last. I am a bit surprised it took them this long; I was expecting the dregs of society to try and run away from the law and end up here. Maybe the rumors of us being an unhospitable barbarian land is so good that even scum doesn't want to come here? Heh... It's better to keep the illusion up, then!

After ordering Oleg to deal with it, my thoughts turned back toward the letter my favorite Duke had sent me. I could barely believe what he was saying, that the new Empress chose his son to be her... lover? Really now? Were the Gods helping me, or was this some kind of karmic joke? Do I need to be worried? Huh. Well, I was going to answer him to encourage him but also tell him to be careful and don't push too far. I don't know his son, and I don't trust him. It could easily turn out to be a problem later on, especially if something happens to his father. Elena, I can trust you, but this Milan? I never met him and never will, and because of that, I couldn't help but be a bit nervous.

"I brought sandwiches! Sacchy said you skipped lunch again!"

"Ah, thanks. Come, sit!" I laughed, watching Luna come in, pulling her into my lap, and letting her feed me. "Mhm, nice~ New sauce?"

"Uhum! I made it, you like it?"

"Spicy~! I love it!" I laughed, kissing and licking her lips, making her squirm because I knew she was not fond of spicy things... yet she still returned the kiss, licking it off from my tongue. "After I devour you, I mean the lunch, go and fetch Merlin for me, please."

"O-okay..." She gasped, already excited, her legs wide open while sitting on my lap. "Did something happen?"

"Yeah, multiple, in fact, and I will need Merlin to interrogate Elena about her brother."

"Family issues? Juicy!"

"You little gossip machine!" I grinned, lifting her up and putting her on my desk, pulling her panties down... Well, I would have, if she would have had any on. "Are you going around commando? Brave~!"

"You said you like it if a girl is ready..." She mumbled, red in the face yet flowing like a wild river, opening her legs as wide as her skirt let her.

"Damn right, you are~!" I leaned over, and while I enjoyed a sandwich, I slipped right into her, deciding to have my dessert alongside the main course.

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"What's up with this place?" Rakkuan asked himself, repeating the question he had asked himself multiple times since crossing the border. Walking along this forsaken land, he had not found any towns, villages, or anything similar. However, a stone road, equal to those in the capital region, stretched into the distance, which surprised him a lot. "Should I just go towards the mountains until I find something?"

One thing he knew was to avoid the highway. He didn't know why it was here, but he for sure knew enough not to use it. His guess was that it was for moving troops to reach the infamous opening in the endless mountains, but then again, walking on it would be way too suspicious. His best bet was to run into a local bandit group in the wilderness and take over its leadership to start over.

Spending multiple months in nature, sleeping under the open sky, made him smile, reminding him how it was when he was a teenager. When he was still robbing people in the countryside before becoming a smuggler and later establishing his own gang in the capital... All of that was thrown out the window because of some overreaching idiots. This time, it will be different!

Or at least, he thought so, waking up early the next day and following the road, staying parallel to it. What was weird, though, was that everything was abandoned when he came across any taverns or little towns. It was clearly empty for a long time, by the dust and disrepair that had fallen on the rickety buildings. It was as if everybody went up in smoke and disappeared. What was going on? Did the monsters break through and eat everybody? Where are the people?

His inner questions were answered soon enough as he laid low in the thick treelines, watching as two soldiers rode past him on the road, wearing fancy, elegant clothes that put some lower-ranking nobles to shame. 

"What the hell are they being fed to grow this big?" He whispered, watching them stop every fifty meters or so, wait a little, and look at something before moving along. "Wait... What?!" 

His surprise came from the fact that the two men suddenly looked toward where he was hiding, turning their horses and heading straight to him. They discovered him, but how?! There was not much time for him to think, leaving behind all of his bags, only keeping his sword as he escaped deeper into the forest, quickly disappearing. These soldiers looked to be from the royal bloodline, going by their stature and clothing, so he was not about to risk it like with the simple patrol before. There was too much he didn't know yet...

"Here!" Shouted one of the guards, hopping down from the horse and finding the bags of Rakkuan. He quickly tore into them while his partner held a little device in his hand that was now giving out beeping sounds, especially when a little box appeared from within.

"Gather it all, and we will bring it back to Avalon! There is CC within; the detector worked! Let Lord Merlin take a look at it to know what it is. We are best not to fiddle with magical devices if we don't want to cause trouble!"

"Yes, agreed!"

They worked quickly, and after hanging all of it on their horses' backs, they took one last look at the forest before leaving, galloping away.

"Avalon...?" Rakkuan murmured, returning as he made a wide U-turn within the thick treeline, sneaking back, watching them take his belongings away. "Damn it... I didn't think they would have anything to detect magical artifacts! My baby! Fuck! This is a barbarians' land... what the fuck is going on? Whatever... Avalon, it is... Does the road take me there? Haahh... if I want my stuff back, it's better to follow it... Bastards! All of them!"

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"Is this all?" I asked, looking at the knick-knacks laid out on a table while Merlin was studying something like a compass but with a needle made out of CC, constantly pointing at him.

"Yes, and this one is the only interesting device in this trash heap! It pinpoints mages; I tested it!"

"Probably for our fugitive to avoid them. Neat! You have my permission to disassemble it and try to reproduce it for ourselves~!" I grinned, patting his shoulders, "The rest can be discarded. It is made of sub-par materials, and we can manufacture way better things!"

"I thought the same." He nodded his head, scratching his chin. "He is probably experienced enough that we couldn't find him so far. Ex-military? Maybe... But for sure, he is alone because the supplies in his backpack wouldn't be enough for a group."

"We are too heavily reliant on Elliot to filter our borders; this lone incident clearly showed it. I will order Oleg to properly set up a border patrol and keep similar figures from sneaking past us."

"I heard the General is already pretty nervous about still not finding the intruder."

"Good. Don't let him become complacent." I chuckled while shaking my head, "How's the transfer? Everything is ready?"

"Yes, Lord Kalash has already perfected controlling the Lion; he even submitted a form to me that he wants to paint the plating blue and gold, representing his colors."

"Haaah, Father doesn't play around, huh? Sure, let it be done; it is his Knight anyway. No need to wait for my approval; he can start walking the thing to the Pass, but as to how to get it into it and over the gates... Those are your problems!"

"I already designed a crane that we could build within the castle, and with the use of anti-gravity spells, we could easily lift it up and over the walls! Easy-peasy!"

"I do hope so..." I whispered, looking at my grinning Prime Minister with one eye. "I don't want to hear about damages."

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"This is awesome!" Kalash shouted, piloting his newest, favorite plaything, effortlessly melding with the new mechanical monster and walking from the testing ground towards the Pass.

"Don't shout! The voice of the machine is ear-splitting!" Louise roared at him, traveling close by with a group of soldiers accompanying the almost 10-meter-tall walker, awed by its wild beauty and by how the earth shook with every step it took.

"Sorry." He mumbled, which was still pretty loud as it came through the mech's loudspeakers. "Oh?"

"What is it?" Oleg asked, knowing that the pilot could easily pick up on his voice, watching towards where Kalash turned the Lion's torso.

"There is someone in the treelines. One person, and... now he is running. I will blast—" he giggled, wanting to blow him up without asking a question, but Oleg's shout stopped him.

"Stop, My Lord! It must be the one we are looking for! We need to interrogate him! After him! Go, go, go!"

Oleg was the first to race out on foot, followed by all of the soldiers, spreading out while those on horses sped up, quickly leaving their comrades behind.

"You would have fired the cannons..." Louise mumbled, staying close to the mech, shrugging. She made her husband answer in a dejected tone that could be felt even through the machine's distorted, mechanical tone.

"It was a live target... hauh... oh well. When winter comes... Then I can test it for real! I will be patient."

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Rakkuan's journey took him two days because he became even more cautious this time, only traveling by hiding within the treeline or at night, avoiding the road as much as he could. Throughout his trek, he saw multiple groups of similarly dressed soldiers patrolling and clearly looking for someone, which, in turn, made him extremely nervous. He was convinced they were looking for him no matter what other reason he tried to think about it. Was it because he killed those nobodies at the crossing point? Was the Frontier this organized? It couldn't be... but it did seem like it.

It was late afternoon when he began noticing way too much movement along the roads, with patrolling soldiers going on about multiple times. By the second day, they were even cutting through the woods, numbering in the hundreds, making it even more difficult for him to advance. By now, he was debating if he should turn back and would have done it if not for his missing belongings... He became poor, and without proper bargaining chips, he couldn't go anywhere.

That was when he saw it. At first, he thought he was hallucinating, but no, there was a monster, a giant magical beast covered in metal scales, walking along the road. It had to be a monster because... because there was no other explanation. For a moment, he forgot breathing, watching the two-legged horror speak in a booming voice, expressing itself in human language in an inhuman tone. The Frontier has fallen; he knew it by then because that abomination was controlling people, and now... It discoevered him!

The fear that he felt was something he never experienced before, making him drop his sword and begin to run, run as fast as he could, no matter where, just escape from here... This land was already lost, and he didn't want to be the dinner of a beast!